Mental Health literacy Week 1

What is positionality

Positionality refers to the social, cultural and political, geographic, and other dimensions that make up your identity. The many aspects of your identity influence your understanding and outlook of the world.

What does it mean to have mental health literacy

The ability to access, understand, evaluate and communicate information as a way to promote, maintain and improve health in a variety of settings across the life-course.

- Manage you health
- Know how to access aproperate health services
- Understand how to carry our health care instructions
- Evalute health information well enough to make informed decisions about your health
- Communicate health information (ask questions and share information with others).
- Recognize mental health conditions
- reduce stigma
- Respond to others with mental health concerns
- prevent mental health conerns from developing into mental health illnesses

Biomedical model definition of health

You are normal or not normal and if you’re not mornal there’s something wrong with you

Biopsychosocial model defintion of health

Biological / Psychological / Social environment overlap. A wholistic model that explains mental health.

Indigenous perspective definition of health

-         Body, Mind, Emotion, Spirit

-         "that everything is related to everything else, that things cannot be understood outside of their context and interactions, and that there are four aspects to the human condition - the physical, the emotional, the mental and the spiritual"

A universal principle in Indigenous worldviews of health is connectedness

WHO’s definition

A state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.

Canadian mental health association

Mental health is more than the absence of a mental health condition or illness: it is a positive sense of well-being, or the capacity to enjoy life and deal with the challenges we face

Is mental health a continum?

Yes.

Mental health is not a static state

- Health - Normal funtioning
- Reacting - Mild disruption
- Injured - Moderate disruption
- Unwell - Severe disruption

What are the three mental health concerns

• Mental health distress

• Mental health problems

• Mental health conditions

Mental health distress

Comes from day to day life.

People manage these with copying strategies and support systems

Mental health problems

events and challenges that are bigger than day-to-day stresses (e.g., loss of income, death of a loved one).

May need extra supports like couselling etc. but typically can be managed.

Mental Health Conditions

Also known as mental health disorders, or mental illnesses.

meet diagnostic criteria outlined by the mental health profession. Mental health conditions typically warrant treatment by a health care professional.

Can be temporary or life long.

Among Canadians 12 years of age or older, how did the percentage of individuals who perceived their mental health to be fair or poor change from 2015 to 2019?

It increased.

Among Canadians 12 years of age or older, how did the percentage of individuals who perceived their mental health to be very good or excellent change from 2015 to 2019?

It decreased

Among Canadians 12 years of age or older, how did the percentage of individuals who reported perceiving that most days in life were quite a bit or extremely stressful change from 2015 to 2019?

It stayed the same.

KEY: Their mental health decreased, while the the stress levels did not go up.

Among Canadians 12 years of age or older, how did the percentage of individuals who reported having received a diagnosis of a mood disorder from a health professional change from 2015 to 2019?

Increased

Is it okay to say “comited suicide”

No.

Instead say “died by suicde” or “took her own life”

Mental Health Literacy is synonymous with mental health awareness. T/F

False.

Awareness is important, but awareness without action is not going to be enough to achieve a major change. We moust move past Awarness to literacy.

How does positionaity affect your ability to get care

It might affect how health care practitioners treat you

It might affect wether or not you seek help (fear)

It might affect your acess to help

Post-secondary students report an increase in perceived mental health and perceived stress over the past four years.

False.

The prevalence of perceived poor mental health has increased but self-reported stress has remained fairly stable.